Despite Hardline Stance on China, Trump Reportedly Received Rp 24 Trillion
World Liberty Financial, a crypto entity backed by US President Donald Trump, has entered a business collaboration with WorldClaw, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup based in Hong Kong.
This partnership has drawn sharp scrutiny because it not only involves AI models from Chinese companies on the US blacklist, but also opens a floodgate of funds directly into the Trump family’s pockets.
According to a Reuters investigation, WorldClaw provides access to 90 AI models, 43 of which—nearly 50%—were developed by Chinese tech giants such as Alibaba, Baidu and Z.ai. The US government itself has flagged these companies as threats to national security and American intellectual property.
Nevertheless, the business scheme is legally permissible in the US. However, the Trump family’s financial entanglement in these transactions has drawn sharp criticism over conflict of interest.
The Trump family’s wealth continues to flow through a share ownership structure and cryptocurrency payment mechanism integrated into the WorldClaw platform. Key highlights include:
38% share ownership in World Liberty: The Trump family holds 38% of shares in World Liberty Financial. Every time the platform uses or circulates World Liberty tokens, the Trump family is entitled to a percentage of the profits.
Monetisation of the USD1 stablecoin: WorldClaw accepts payment for AI services using the USD1 stablecoin issued by World Liberty. Like typical dollar-based stablecoins, USD1 is backed by traditional assets such as US Treasury securities. The Trump family is entitled to a direct cut of the yield generated by those backing assets.
Part of a multi-billion-dollar crypto empire: To date, World Liberty token sales alone have contributed more than US$1.4 billion (around Rp24 trillion) to the Trump family. This figure represents the largest portion of the total US$2.3 billion (around Rp41 trillion) the Trump family has raised from various crypto projects.
Aggressive promotion by Trump’s sons: The President’s two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump—who also act as co-founders of World Liberty—have actively promoted WorldClaw on X (Twitter). A World Liberty executive, Ryan Fang, also serves directly as an adviser at WorldClaw to accelerate USD1 adoption.
The double standard has drawn sharp criticism from ethics and US foreign policy experts. On one hand, the Trump administration has voiced a hardline China-hawk stance and restricted Chinese technology on national security grounds. On the other, Trump’s private business entity is profiting from transactions involving AI models from the Bamboo Curtain country.
“At a time when the US government is trying to respond to the rise and threat of Chinese AI, it feels deeply hypocritical that through WorldClaw they are leveraging these Chinese tools to rake in piles of money,” said Sam Bresnick, a researcher at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University.
In response, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly asserted that there is “no conflict of interest” in the relationship between World Liberty and WorldClaw, and said President Trump always acts in the interest of the American public.
Echoing the White House, a World Liberty spokesperson stated that WorldClaw is an independent company and that providing AI from various countries is a common practice in the global technology industry.